New Powerbook fan - on too much?

Just got a new Rev. D Powerbook on Monday, and this is my first experience with the PB line. The fan seems to come on awfully easily. Doesn't take much more than a few apps open (browser, iTunes, maybe iPhoto) before it kicks in. I have it sittin on a nice hardwood desktop, so the cooling vents aren't blocked. I installed TemperatureMonitor and the fan seems to kick on as soon as the temps get into the 125 F range (which is to say relatively easily).

Is this normal for the Powerbooks? This is the dead of winter, and it's already annoying. I can only imagine the fan will be on from boot time come summer. Is there any way to adjust the temperature threshold? I know I can adjust the Energy Saver settings to try to keep it cool, but seems a little silly to spend all this money on a nice new machine and then de-tune it to run a few simple apps.

Just as a basis for comparison, on my Rev. C 1.5GHz 15" PowerBook, the fans don't kick in until it reaches around 140 F. So, it usually only comes on with very processor intensive apps like World of Warcraft and Garageband... every once in a while with Photoshop.

Just as a basis for comparison, on my Rev. C 1.5GHz 15" PowerBook, the fans don't kick in until it reaches around 140 F. So, it usually only comes on with very processor intensive apps like World of Warcraft and Garageband... every once in a while with Photoshop.

Click to expand...

140 F seems about right - 125 F seems overly aggressive. I wonder if Apple dropped the threshold on the Rev. D's due to the faster processor speed (relative to a given model/size)? I suppose going from 1.33 to 1.5 GHz in a 12" (sorry, forgot to mention mine's a 12") would require a more aggressive cooling algorithm. But if that's the case, I'd almost prefer the 1.33 (!).

Oh, one more thing I've noticed. Once the fan comes on, it tends to stay on, even after the temps drop back down into the 110 F range. I wonder if this is a 10.3.8 thing? I only had it for a few days before 10.3.8 came out, but didn't seem this bad w/10.3.7. I saw a note on http://www.macfixit.com where another PB owner had a similar complaint after the upgrade.

Anyone know how to adjust the cutoff? I know, void my warranty, etc. But even a 5 degree bump would help.

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